Opinion Blog

A reasonable proposal on school security from DISD chief

If the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., created a crisis that ripples to every school district in America, a former presidential chief of staff and now a big-city mayor would have advised taking full advantage.

Miller is relatively new to the Dallas school district but not to law enforcement. He spent nearly three decades with the Dallas Police Department — capping a steady rise through the ranks to command of the Crimes Against Persons Division — before retiring in November 2011 to become chief of the DISD police. Simply, he knows his cop stuff.

The Sandy Hook Elementary shootings caused a flurry of activity nationwide, from lobbyists to politicians to police to mental health experts to journalists. What caused this tragedy? Could the same thing happen here? How can we prevent another one? Do our schools have enough security?

Miller sent a 15-officer task force to evaluate security at each of the DISD’s 223 campuses. The political opportunity: Here was a chance to balloon the DISD police force from its present 125 officers. More personnel, more stuff, bigger budget.

As our Matthew Haag reports this morning, Miller’s plan is decidedly more modest and almost certainly more sensible and more realistic. Instead of arguing for more bodies to staff more campuses, Miller suggests reasonable security upgrades at campuses that need them, technology over physical presence.

Which is not to say everything was just fine. Miller, in fact, was alarmed by some of what his officers found:

Side doors were found propped open, allowing anyone to walk in. Visitors could enter front doors unnoticed. School employees couldn’t track people within the building.

“We were vulnerable,” Miller said. “We have a lot of older buildings, which pose unique issues. We have to do the things that make the most sense. Let’s harden the facility and make it more difficult for someone to get into the door.”

His specific responses include:

– Installing an eight-camera video recording system triggered by motion at each of the district’s 150 elementary schools.

– Installing a buzzer system at the front door of each elementary school that would have an intercom and a color camera and require the receptionist to unlock the door.

– Putting electronic card readers at side doors at elementary schools that allow only DISD staff to enter.

– Installing one-way peepholes on the 1,200 portables to allow someone to look outside during a lockdown at all schools.

The estimated cost is $4.65 million, which district officials want to fund with money from the $1.3 billion bond program voters approved in 2008. The bond program included some security upgrades, and about $40 million hasn’t been spent, district spokesman Jon Dahlander said.

Superintendent Mike Miles sounds non-committal: “This is the first proposal to go before the board, and we look forward to hearing their discussion,” but school board President Lew Blackburn backs the Miller plan:

“It does make sense to identify the elementary schools that would need security,” he said. “We need to spend our money wisely, but the technology is a wiser expenditure than personnel.”

Different school districts obviously will come to different conclusions. Plano ISD, for instance, is weighing a $2.7 million plan to put 75 armed officers on its campuses. Plano is one of North Texas’ larger suburban districts, but $2.7 million is a far bigger bite in relative terms than $4.65 million for DISD.

It’s refreshing to see a top school district official like Miller apply law enforcement experience and common sense to a problem. Perhaps we just don’t have enough past examples to draw a firm conclusion.

Miller is certainly aware of the ongoing political debate that includes pushes for more armed guards or allowing current educators to carry their own weapons on campus.

“I’m an advocate for guns,” Miller said. “But if you are going to have a gun, I want you to know how to use it and defend yourself and not have an accidental shooting situation and not be put in a situation to do something you aren’t trained to do.”

Miller said that it also doesn’t make sense to place officers at elementary schools because they don’t have the crime, fights and drugs sometimes found in middle schools or high schools.

He also doesn’t promise that these security upgrades, if approved by the school board, will prevent a shooting like Sandy Hook.

In that case, the gunman forced his way into the school despite a buzzer system and a front door that was locked during the school day.

“Sandy Hook didn’t have problems at their schools. They ran drills and were prepared,” Miller said. “But no one is ready for a raging lunatic willing to die for a cause. It’s forced us to go out and look and make us better. We will be better prepared to protect ourselves.”

Better is not perfect, but perfect isn’t realistic. Instead of creating opportunity from crisis, Craig Miller appears more inclined to fix what he can and give people the tools they need to do their jobs. It’s encouraging to see that every now and then.

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The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board was the first editorial board in the nation to use a blog to openly discuss hot topics and issues among its members and with readers. Our intent is to pull back the curtain on the daily process of producing the unsigned editorials that reflect the opinion of the newspaper, and to share analysis and opinion on issues of interest to board members and invited guest bloggers.